Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (Ga-01) voted today to protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America by ensuring government debt is paid in full and on time. The Default Prevention Act would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to meet the debt obligations of the United States without regard to the statutory debt limit.
“It’s time to take the full faith and credit of the United States off the bargaining table when it comes to fiscal debates in Washington,” Carter said. “Time and again, President Obama and his allies in Congress have used the threat of default to get a clean pass at increasing our debt limit. The result is governing by crisis and distracts from what the debt limit should force: a debate on the policies that drive the debt in the first place. By preventing a debt crisis, we can get the calm necessary to reach agreement on getting our debt under control.”
Under the bill passed today, the Treasury Secretary would be permitted to borrow above the statutory debt limit for the sole purpose of paying principal and interest due on the debt, thereby guaranteeing the debt of the United States is honored.
The clear and unambiguous mandate to protect the nation’s credit first will result in the ability of the government to continue to pay its other bills. American investors are protected in the legislation, as more than half of the nation’s debt is held by Americans, often in pension funds.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week confirmed the Treasury Department’s estimate that the statutory debt limit will be reached on or around November 5.
